Boeing booster for US stock market

Boeing and Caterpillar have led US stocks higher, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average to its highest close since June 2008.

Boeing rose 3.4% after reporting that it expects to deliver its long-awaited 787 jet in the third quarter, while Caterpillar gained 2.8%. The two companies contributed more than half of the Dow’s 50-point rise.

Indexes swung between gains and losses earlier in the day. Apple weighed on the Nasdaq composite index after the company announced that its CEO, Steve Jobs, was taking another medical leave. Apple fell 2.2 % to 340 dollars 65 cents.

Banks dropped after Citigroup reported earnings that fell short of analysts’ forecasts. Citigroup fell 6.4%. Bank of America lost 1.6%.

Delta dropped 8.2% after winter storms caused its earnings to come in lower than investors had expected.

The Dow rose 50.55 points, or 0.4%, to close at 11,837.93. The Dow has already gained 2.2% this year as optimism builds about the economy. The index rose 11% last year, or 14% including dividends.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged up 1.78, or 0.1 %, to close at 1,295.02. The Nasdaq rose 10.55, or 0.4 %, to 2,765.85.

European markets rose after Greece raised 865 million dollars (£542 million) in another successful bond auction. That allayed concerns about Europe’s financial system, which have been a drag on US markets.

Bond prices fell, pushing their yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.37 % from 3.32 % late on Friday. US markets were closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King memorial public holiday.

Rising stocks outpaced falling ones by a small margin on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was 1.2 billion shares.